56. My Papi has a Motorcycle, by Isabel Quintero

 

56. My Papi has a Motorcycle, by Isabel Quintero


Quintero, I. (2019). My Papi has a motorcycle. NY: Kokila. 

A little girl named Daisy Ramona waits for her dad to come home from work so they can ride around their city, Corona, Calif., on the back of his motorcycle. Together, they zoom through the streets of their city, noticing what’s new with familiar landmarks, waving to friends and family, avoiding stray cats and outrunning chasing dogs.  There are a couple stops along the way–at Don Rudy’s Raspados, which is unfortunately closed and at the construction site where Papi works to see the new houses going up–but mostly they stay in motion. At the end, they come back home again, and are rewarded with a visit from Don Rudy, who has taken his raspados on the road.

This story has a strong theme of father-daughter love. It is a young girl’s love letter to her hardworking dad and to memories of home that she holds close in the midst of change.  Daisy’s love for her community and family is a common theme in other books such as Margarita Engle’s All the Way to Havana. To expand the text study further use the story Last Stop on Market Street and invite your students to write and draw about a special trip that they have taken with loved ones.  This and other ideas are in the resource The Classroom Bookshelf.  I have included the link below.

theclassroombookshelf.com/2019/05/celebrate-family-community-and-the-thrill-of-the-ride-with-my-papi-has-a-motorcycle/

 

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